This is not an impeachment hearing.

The reality is, this is not an impeachment hearing.

That is, this is not a hearing which is to lead to an impeachment finding against the President which is then to be taken up by the Senate.

Politically there is no point to an impeachment anyway. An impeachment is simply a charge raised by the House against the President–but it is up to the Senate to then hold a trial to determine if the President is innocent or guilty.

And unless the Senate loses around 34 Republicans in the next election–or the Senate can flip 34 Republicans who will undoubtedly vote along party lines (because the Democrats will vote along party lines)–an impeachment is essentially a waste of the paper it is printed on.

—-

No, this is not an impeachment hearing.

It is the cargo-cult equivalent of an impeachment hearing.

It is designed to make you think the President is guilty of the charges levied against him–regardless of actual innocence or guilt. Without allowing a proper defense to be established or even access by the defense to the evidence being used.

It is designed to make you vote for someone else in the polls in November of next year, thinking the President is guilty of something.

It is designed to distract you from the rather serious charges that are starting to bubble to the surface about some Democratic (and a few Republican) leaders about receiving foreign money into their personal bank accounts–in some cases for an apparent quid-pro-quo for favored access to US markets or favored support from the State Department.

It is designed to distract you from the fact that the #resistance–a movement which started before Trump ever took office and before we ever found out what sort of President Trump would be–formed for the explicit purpose of overturning a lawfully conducted election and a rightfully selected President. Don’t forget the Russian hearings which went nowhere, the talk about the 25th Amendment, the discussion about having an election “do-over,” the talk about abolishing the Electoral College.

It is designed to distract you from the fact that there is now a war in Washington D.C. against those who see themselves as the rightful unelected rulers of our country–those with family connections, with access to power (and who exchange that access for money), and who are the only ones who have the right to make decisions that control our country–and those who would like to upend the status-quo.

It is designed to cover the asses of those leaders–many of whom have become multi-millionaires on a congress critter’s salary. Many of whom were traveling down to Epstein’s little island. Many of whom have unsavory foreign connections.

—-

And because it is not an impeachment hearing, because it cannot go to the Senate for a vote, because that would allow the Senate Republicans to expose all of the evidence (and the process by which it was gathered) for all of us to see–this hearing will not conclude by November of 2020.

It cannot.

Because that would allow us to see exactly how the game has been rigged. It would allow us to start answering the questions we’ve been distracted from. It would allow us to open the door a little and see the tiny little man running the scary vision projected in smoke and mirrors as the visage of Oz.

So the impeachment hearing must continue for the next year as more “evidence” is provided, more “charges” brought forward. At some point I would expect a handful of women (who have never met Trump) to step forward and make accusations of rape or of child molestation. At some point I would expect a handful of men (who have never dealt with Trump) to step forward and accuse Trump of mobster-like dealings within his businesses. Certainly anything Trump says about his dealings with foreign leaders will (and in some corners already has) been turned into charges of tampering with official records and with witness tampering charges.

Because now that the framework has been established, with the defense being unable to defend itself, without supporters being able to gain access to understand what’s going on–we can pour any accusation we want into these hearings.

Because they are not impeachment hearings.

They’re a political gambit in the guise of an impeachment hearing.

And it’s clear this is all a political gambit because if they were real impeachment hearings no-one would care about televising the hearings, or about the ratings of the impeachment hearings, or polling the American public. Certainly no-one would worry about focus-group testing the hearings.

—-

So no, this is not an impeachment hearing.

Let’s be clear: I really don’t give two shits about Trump–though I confess I’m happy with some of the work he’s done, and I like the fact that he seems willing to turn over rocks and watch the bugs underneath scamper and scurry from the sunlight. I like the fact that he has exposed many of our supposed natural ruling aristocracy as the stupid power-hungry assholes they are.

But Presidents really don’t have that much control over my life, because our Federal Government has far less control over the day-to-day elements of my life than does the state in which I live and the county where my house is located.

In the 54 years I’ve been on this planet, I have dealt with city building inspectors and city-hired police officers. I have dealt with county-provided small claims adjudicators and am now involved in a lawsuit going to arbitration with the State Superior Court–and I’ve even had a case heard by the State Appellate Court. (Don’t ask.)

I have never had to deal with the Federal Government, except to obtain a passport and to get my Real ID. (Where I learned, by the way, that the information associated with my social security number was screwed up. Big Brother can’t even watch me properly.) And of course to file taxes. Though I’m happy about the Obergefell ruling.

So I don’t care how things turn out in 2020. Of course I’m going to root for my own team–as many of you will root for yours. But the winner or the loser doesn’t really affect much–though if a Democrat wins the White House in 2020, expect the economy to contract as every Democrat running has promised to take steps that would ultimately trigger a recession.

(Which, in an interesting turn of fate, helps my pocket book as a freelance software developer. So if you ask me to vote my pocket book, I’d vote for a recession.)

So to be clear, I’m not strongly attached to the results.

Even so, this is not an impeachment hearing.

It was never an impeachment hearing.

It’s something far worse.

It’s a shredding of constitutional norms by folks who told us from the start they planned to shred constitutional norms. Who were proud to announce they wanted to shred constitutional norms because Trump was never their President.

Because to them, Trump is so bad we must do anything to get rid of him.

Even if that means setting the Constitution on fire and burning it to the ground.

—-

And they forget that cultural and legal norms is the only thing that keeps us from the chaos of the abyss.